Incubation : Battle Isle Phase Four
Hyper Spooky Game #6
Type of Game
An experiment designed to test our fear tolerance threshold. All the time. As long as we're only twelve years old, but still.
Release date on our machines
October 1997, it would appear. When it starts to get cold, at least.
Developer
Blue Byte Software GmbH, Ubisoft Düsseldorf today.
Publisher
Ubisoft Düsseldorf. Formerly Blue Byte Software, back in the day.
Incubation : available on GOG, in the Battle Isle Platinum compilation, which includes all the games of the franchise. Eh, nice guys !
As with almost all PC games between 1994 and 1998, I discovered Incubation through my cousin Walter Valise, who gave me an intensive, accelerated presentation, a mixture of testing and commentary on the lore and mechanics. There was no time to take notes; I had to absorb as much information as possible during the evening, before going to sleep and picking it up again when I woke up. I found it fascinating, even though I didn't often touch the mouse. I preferred to watch and learn, rather than get in the way of his schedule as an avid gamer. I think he enjoyed playing the role of lecturer, even if I sometimes might have bored him a little, since I understood everything five minutes too late. We also had some laughs, fortunately, sometimes because the graphics lent themselves to it, like the faces of some of the characters in Master of Orion II, my god ! Sometimes because we were trying to hide our fear in Alien 3 or Jurassic Park, but also in the brave Incubation. And we commented on everything that was happening as if it were of the utmost importance, which was obviously the case for us, while our soldiers tried in vain to survive against the terrible alien creatures that were threatening their existence. Even though I was terrified of being attacked in my sleep by hideous mutant horrors, I loved this night-time session, which was perfectly suited to this game.
Professor of video game cousinhood
In the days that followed, I often thought about buying Incubation, partly so that I could terrify myself on demand. Of course, I never did. If I remember correctly, buying this CD-ROM would also have required my stepfather to upgrade the home computer. I couldn't ask him for such a favour, as I had already fried a motherboard with an unfortunate elbow bump to the tower while playing Worms shortly before.
Battles and Gloves
I'm not familiar with the Battle Isle franchise. But it seems that Incubation, the fourth instalment in the series, doesn't follow the same principle as the previous titles. Those games involved managing an army of tanks and regiments from a top-down view, similar to an RTS, but turn-based. A bit like M.A.X., really, minus the base management, but with other parameters added, including resupplying during the game, if I've understood correctly. Here, you send out a squad of soldiers, three at the start, but more as the game progresses. It's still turn-based, but this time in confined environments to get rid of the giant, clawed vermin. And honestly, I can thank Walter for showing me this rather than any of the older Battle Isle games. In fact, I long believed that all Battle Isle games were based on the same concept, as this simulation of sending poor blokes to the slaughterhouse was so incredibly cool. Why did they ever develop anything else, really?
They might as well have changed the franchise name and dropped the Battle Isle label, at that rate. But let's get back to our lads (and ladies, I believe). As usual, one feature sent me into complete bliss: the one that allows you to customise your troops with kid gloves. Precisely so that they can avoid the slaughterhouse for as long as possible. I had never heard of tactical before, so I called it customisation with kid gloves, for lack of a better term. I'm trying to do this from memory, which is bound to lead to some huge mistakes. Basically, before each mission, you choose the equipment for each member of the squad: weapon, armour, support pack and other performance-enhancing pills. These members progress as they fight, becoming true experts in the use of shotguns or sprayers. So, am I right or not? After checking: yeah, pretty much, but better. Honestly, the upgrade system still blows me away.
Much more than bigger, newer games, like Diablo III, for example, even though it's completely different. Anyway, killing monsters gives our recruits experience (which they have their own gauge for, separate from the others), which increases their stats (health points and chances of hitting targets, presumably) and unlocks their ability to wield more powerful weapons. We also get equipment points (available to everyone) at the end of each mission, or by opening crates scattered around the map. These points give us the opportunity to buy weapons, ammunition packs, healing items, and other defensive gear. There's plenty to do, and you can build your team according to your preferences, specialising your soldiers in particular weapons (machine guns, sniper rifles, flamethrowers, mine-laying devices, etc.).
Yes, tactical stuff, it seems obvious to all those settings fanatics who have completed fifty games. I only discovered FF Tactics two years later, and Legend of Kartia three years later, and nothing else after that, sorry! Still, you could call it tactical with kid gloves, so customisation with kid gloves, but with kid gloves. Well, I have cold hands now, well done. The only annoying thing about it all is the mechanics of the weapons overheating. It happens far too quickly, ruining all the excitement and momentum that Incubation tries to build up. I just wish it didn't exist, even if it meant making the creatures harder to kill. Apart from that, no complaints. Ammunition management can be a pain from time to time, because if you run out, it really screws you over. Imagine a big xenomorph charging at you, and you have to lift it with a fork made of crushed ice.
You can always pick up magazines in the famous boxes scattered around the levels, but who wants to go through a monster-infested maze to shoot with a gun that just melts in your hands? No, you might as well rush at the creatures and chop them up in close combat with an oversized knife attached to your gun, which contradicts my crushed ice fork delusion, I realise now. I have to stop writing when I have cold hands. So sometimes we struggle, which was often the case with Walter Valise. At least until we reach the level where we take control of a kind of big robot, halfway between the one Ellen Ripley pilots in Aliens and the most powerful thing from the MechWarrior games. Then, suddenly, we don't have much to fear anymore. Did I see it coming at the time?
Of course not, we were dying long before that. Damn, the shock would have been even more violent. Fortunately, the atmosphere keeps us in a constant state of fear. With games like this, why would anyone want to see what the future holds when you can just stay cosy in the cocoon of the past? We infiltrate dark, dingy buildings that are dimly lit and labyrinthine. Did I really write dingy? OK, I'm ashamed, but at least I'm not cold anymore. The menu that lets you track your progress through the missions is just perfect for this genre, and is the only view of the outside world in the whole game (more or less, can anyone confirm?). In short, creatures await us behind many corridor junctions. Not every time, otherwise we wouldn't have the surprise of getting killed.
What's more, sometimes we only see them at the last moment, no matter how we fiddle with the camera. That's good, eh? It maintains the feeling of supreme creepiness that we love to experience throughout. And that's not even mentioning the mission briefings, with their objectives impeccably listed by our increasingly disillusioned protagonist. You can tell the guy has had enough and is going to suffer from PTSD for the rest of his life, assuming he has several days left to live, of course. Add to that the brave warriors and warrioresses who panic and run around if they get bitten a couple of times, and you have a little masterpiece of oppression that has aged much better than the film Alien Resurrection, released the same year.
Duplications of stress
The music for Incubation was composed by Haiko Ruttman, who worked on all the Battle Isle games, as well as The Settlers, some old tennis games, and other even more obscure titles. These games have nothing to do with each other, right. And since Incubation's gameplay grabs us by the throat, twists our guts with anxiety and pours litres of cold sweat down our backs, what do we need in terms of sound? Even more darkness, of course! And thank you to the gentleman in question for not contradicting this theory. The tracks all fit the futuristic atmosphere and add another layer of stress that we welcome with open arms (but sweaty palms). OK, so you have to listen to the tracks a good twenty times to determine what sets them apart from each other. So, after a good two hundred listens in total, I can finally say that my favourite track is this one! Unless it's one of the other eight. Argh, which one did I choose in the first place? I can't remember.
Never put fear aside
Well, now I'm really frustrated that I let the game fall into oblivion! Seeing the images from Incubation again makes me regret not pestering my stepfather to invest in a new processor (and a new graphics card, and new RAM sticks, and a decent 3D card, too). Of course, it wouldn't have changed anything, he was still mad at me for breaking his computer when I was playing Worms with my mate Randall Geyser. Come on, stepdad! That was six months ago! No hard feelings, right? Knowing that the guy could harass me for hours because I left a book lying on the coffee table, while his room was overflowing with dirty, smelly clothes, six months to forgive me was far too little. But okay! This time he had a real reason to hate me. Nevertheless, I should have pressured my cousin Walter to take me back to that fabulous horror epic, if only for a second time.
Obviously, it wouldn't have solved my addiction, quite the contrary. I should have found someone else among my mates who owned the game, but I don't think anyone in my circle fit the bill. Fate really wanted me to move on. In 1997, I already didn't know which way to turn, between Age of Empires on the computer and Resident Evil on PlayStation, to name just two virtual bulldozers; maybe fate wanted to spare me from burnout... yeah, no, I'll stop with that fate excuse. OK! I was AFRAID to dive back into Incubation! And I was too LAZY to face my stepfather! STEP-LAZY! Or LAYTHER, but I don't think that does the same effect. Come on, burn me with all those hooky creatures, I'm no better.
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